By Cassie Smith

Published 11:24 am, Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Kountze cheerleaders from left, Savannah Short, Macy Matthews, Kieara Moffett and Rebekah Richardson take questions from local and state media Wednesday at a Beaumont lawfirm. Hardin County's Judge Steve Thomas ruled earlier that day in favor of the girls using religious statements on banners at school functions.
Photo taken Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise
Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Kountze cheerleaders from left, Savannah Short, Macy Matthews,...

From left to right; Rebekah Richardson, 17, Savannah Short, 14, Ashton Lawrence, 16, Kieara Moffett, 16, and Macy Matthews, 15, chat at the Richardson household on Wednesday, November, 13, 2012. The Kountze cheerleaders have grown significantly closer with everything they have worked through over the past two months.
Photo taken:
Randy Edwards/The Enterprise

From left to right; Rebekah Richardson, 17, Savannah Short, 14,...

At the end of the day, after the judge had decided on an extension for the temporary restraining order, lead attorney David Starnes talks to the media about the judges' decision. Thursday morning, 356th District Court Judge Steve Thomas heard arguments from the Kountze cheerleaders and the school district regarding use of scriptures on signs at football games. He has to decide to order a temporary injunction, allowing the cheerleaders to use their signs or not. The hearing started at 9 a.m. Dave Ryan/The Enterprise
Photo: Dave Ryan

At the end of the day, after the judge had decided on an extension...

Some of the cars in the courthouse parking lot showed support for the cheerleaders cause. Thursday morning, 356th District Court Judge Steve Thomas heard arguments from the Kountze cheerleaders and the school district regarding use of scriptures on signs at football games. He has to decide to order a temporary injunction, allowing the cheerleaders to use their signs or not. The hearing started at 9 a.m. Dave Ryan/The Enterprise
Photo: Dave Ryan

Some of the cars in the courthouse parking lot showed support for...

The kids work on a large sign in the driveway that required some of the kids to sit on the sign to keep it from blowing in the breeze. Kountze cheerleaders, friends and supportive parents who are standing up for their kids and their beliefs, were making signs and painting car windows Wednesday afternoon that will be seen around Kountze in support of the cheerleaders who were told they could not put scripture on their football signs. Each game this season, the Kountze cheerleaders have made Christian-themed run-through signs for the football players. The signs, which featured scripture verses, went viral and have now been stopped by the school district's leaders who were told by a group the signs were offensive and against the separation of church and state. STAND ALONE (AP PHOTO/THE BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE, D. Ryan)

The kids work on a large sign in the driveway that required some of...

Andrea Lawrence double checks her bible while working on a big sign. Kountze cheerleaders, friends and supportive parents who are standing up for their kids and their beliefs, were making signs and painting car windows Wednesday afternoon that will be seen around Kountze in support of the cheerleaders who were told they could not put scripture on their football signs. Each game this season, the Kountze cheerleaders have made Christian-themed run-through signs for the football players. The signs, which featured scripture verses, went viral and have now been stopped by the school district's leaders who were told by a group the signs were offensive and against the separation of church and state. Dave Ryan/The Enterprise

Andrea Lawrence double checks her bible while working on a big...

Kountze football player #6 Jamazdon Powell carries a flag as the team comes into the stadium. This was the first home football game in Kountze since the sign controversy started and since the Thursday hearing that determined the cheerleaders could or could not use their faith-based signs. Dave Ryan/The Enterprise

Kountze football player #6 Jamazdon Powell carries a flag as the...

After a judge granted a temporary restraining order in the Kountze cheerleader case, the cheerleaders of Kountze Middle School used their faith-based signs at the middle school football game held at Kountze High School on Thursday, September 20, 2012.
Photo taken:
Randy Edwards/The Enterprise
Photo: Randy Edwards

A decision is expected early next year from the Ninth Judicial District in Beaumont that could bring an end to more than a year's back-and-forth in a case involving Kountze ISD's cheerleaders right to display banners quoting Bible Scripture.

The court is reviewing a recent round of briefs filed in the case. Beaumont Attorney David Starnes said the court ruled it didn't need to hear oral arguments and is instead basing its decision on the briefs.

He said that depending on the court's wording and decision, the ruling could still be take to the Texas Supreme Court.

It's been a long year for Kountze ISD, the cheerleaders that joined the case and the parties that later jumped on board.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation kicked things off in September 2012, when the group complained to the then-superintendent, who responded by banning the use of the signs.

The cheerleaders' parents answered back by hiring Starnes to file an injunction on their behalf, claiming the district couldn't tell them what message to put on the banners since the girls paid for the supplies and created the signs on their own time.

Hardin County 356th District Court Judge Steve Thomas ruled in May that the Scripture banners were constitutionally permissible.

The school district's attorney then filed a legal brief requesting clarification of that decision.

Kountze Superintendent Reese Briggs said at the time that the district asked for the clarification to avoid future litigation, not to fight the decision.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas filed a brief in September stating that the banners were unconstitutional. They had the support of the Anti-Defamation League, the Interfaith Alliance Foundation, Muslim Advocates, the Union for Reform Judaism, Hadassah - The Women's Zionist Organization, the Hindu American Foundation, Americans United for Separation of Church & State, and the Sikh Coalition.

Lead Appellate Counsel Jim Ho, of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, the Liberty Institute and Starnes joined in filing a brief opposing the school district's appeal of the court's ruling in favor of the cheerleaders.

For now, everyone awaits the court's decision.

The cheerleaders displayed the banners all season long, and the football team made it to the playoffs for the first time in 40 years.